Social Service Agent

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article introduces the Social Service Agent, one of the military service systems in Korea (disambiguation).

The Social Service Agent(Korean: 사회복무요원, 社會服務要員) is the largest type of transitional and alternative service system in the South Korea, implemented on January 1, 1995. Originally called Public Service Worker(Korean: 공익근무요원, 公益勤務要員), it was renamed social service agent since 2013 due to amendment to military service law.


History

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Prior to 1995, it was called 'Standby Replacement', and the current social service agent was a standby replacement. Later, the standby replacement system was abolished, creating a public service worker system.

Since 2012, the word public service worker has been deleted, of which administrator's clerk has been replaced with the social service agent, and the international cooperation agency[1] and the art and physical education agency among the public service workers are separated independently under the social service system.[2]

The social service agent's five-day training course (after four weeks of basic military training) has been implemented as a camp since 2015. The place is 'Chungcheongbuk-do Boeun-gun(충청북도 보은군)' social service training center, which runs for the same five days, but has increased from 33 hours to 44 hours.


Remuneration significantly below the minimum cost of living

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Matters on the social service agent

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Social service agents are paid well below the minimum cost of living, despite commuting to and from their homes. There is also a problem in that income-generating work is prohibited until a subsidiary duty permit is obtained by passing an application for the minimum living expenses. The monthly salary paid to social service agents is the same as the active duty, and only lunch and transportation costs are paid on the day you work.(In other words, breakfast cost and dinner cost are not paid at all)

As of 2018, it is impossible to make a normal living from a monthly salary of 300,000 won to 400,000 won and a small lunch cost paid additionally. For your information, the minimum cost of living per person as of 2017 is 991,759 won. After all, the cost of living should be fully covered by the social service agent himself or his parents or spouse. To paraphrase, it's like asking active duty to pay for a room and meal.

Although there are dual subsidiary duty systems for socially difficult economic service agents, this is no different from forcing dual labour to social service agents which are economically difficult. Also, due to the characteristics of social service agents with physical disabilities, normal life is often impossible even with subsidiary duty.

In addition, the Constitutional Court ruled that active duty is provided with shelter by the military, so it is okay to pay less than the minimum wage.(2017헌마374) Nevertheless, 'social service agents' are paid significantly below the minimum cost of living, even though they are not provided with shelter.

Later in April 2017, a former social service agent, "Lee Dahoon(then 21,)" issued a 'conventional approach' that states, 'The current social service agent's remuneration system violates equal rights, property rights and the right to lead a decent life.' For the first time in the history of Korea, a 'constantial expression' on the repair of a 'social service agent' has been referred to an 'original bill listening'(full bench).[3]

Clothes

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Social service agents wear work clothes as prescribed by the Korean MMA except for Korean courts. It is enacted by the Korean MMA, and all workplaces in the country are the same.

Abolition of social service agent and violations of ILO Core Conventions 29 and 105

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According to the International Labor Organization(ILO), a U.N.-affiliated organization, South Korea's social service agent system constitutes obvious forced labor. The ILO believes that the conscription system itself is not forced labor, but considers that national mobilization for non-military work, including systems of industrial technical personnel, public interest lawyers and public health doctors, is forced labor. In order to maintain the 'social service agent' system, Korea has not joined the 29/105 Convention, which prohibits forced labor by the ILO, and is highly criticized by the international community. Ironically, the 29th Convention is the basis for criticizing that the recruitment of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery and the labor of Hashima Island Korean were forced labor. But the Korean government is not joining the forced labor abolition agreement and is forcing people to work.[4][5]

Form of Duty

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According to the service organization and service field, it is divided into day duty, night duty, and camp duty, night duty will be performed according to the duty schedule previously negotiated by the service director.

Work qualifications and authority

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Unless have received four weeks of basic military training, will be legally authorized to perform civil service while serving as legal civilian during service. Also, If need to work for more than one year in the field of service or workplace where there is a high level of corruption, If have worked in a difficult field or place of work for more than one year and requested a change in the field of service because of the impartiality performance, Where it is deemed necessary for recurring work due to other complaints, the place of work can be changed.

Duty field

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The service areas of social service agents are categorized social service, health and medical treatment, education culture, environmental safety, and administration.

The social service sector is mostly responsible for the care of disabled children or the elderly with dementia, while the environmental safety sector is responsible for managing facilities such as reservoirs and sewage.

Social service agents working for the NIS in the administration field are selected through the same identity inquiry as the officers. They write memorandums to keep secrets about their work and are put on site. If leak about work, be sentenced to imprisonment. Therefore, except for myself, no one knows the work details of social service agents serving in the NIS.

Vacation, International Travel

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Social service agents have a total of five vacations, including an annual leave, sick leave, compassionate leave, emergency leave, and official holiday. If take all vacations for more than 30 consecutive days, It is considered that vacation was used on holidays. also overseas trip is possible if the permission of the leader.

Discipline

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Warnings can be issued by the head of the service agency, in this instance, the duty period is extended by five days per once of warning. If more than 7 warnings have been received, the local MMA will accuse the social service agents to district public prosecutor´s office on suspicion of violating the military service law, and sentence it to imprisonment. In this case, the sentence period does not count toward the duty period.


Comparison with other classification of service status

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Sortation Active duty full-time reserve Reservist(social service agents etc)
Duty active duty, reservist(after duty) active duty only for basic military training, after that, remaining duty is served as a reservist basic military education and discharge from military service as reservist(same for the reserve forces after that)
Identity soldier soldier citizen
Duty period Army and Marine 1 Year 9 Months, Navy 1 Year 11 Months, Air Force 2 Years Army, Marine, Navy, all 1 year and 9 months. 2 years based on social service agents
Rank after duty sergeant sergeant private
Form of duty barracks life commute to work or leave from home every day (weekends usually rest)[6] commute to work or leave from home every day or camp(two days of vacation per week)
Relative height - effective January 1, 1995. effective January 1, 1995.


Service period by type

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In the case of social service agents, those who have been convened from January 1, 2011 are 2 years, however, soldier, policeman's son or brother may serve six months as a 'social service agents' even if they are above grade six(an active target) per person.

Education

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Basic Military Training

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When convened as a social service agent, they receive four weeks of basic military training at the Army Training Center, the Homeland Division, the Jeju Defense Command, and the Naval Education Command. But a person born since 1991 who has been incorporated into a fourth-grade "reservist" for reasons of mental illness, a person born after 1991 who has received a Level 4 judgment due to a tattoo or scar from self-harm, including a psychiatric Level 3, a person who has been admitted to having difficulty in collecting education due to repeated returned home (including retirement) for two years or more due to the same disease or other inevitable reasons, and is determined to be excluded from the education collection after examination by the screening committee, In addition, If have already been expelled from a military academy, etc. if the period of military training received by an educational institution before you leave school exceeds the basic military education, a person who has been incorporated into the reservist during active duty, others who have already completed their training sessions do not complete basic military training and serve as social service agents.

Post Deployment Training

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Training carried out after deployment includes training for refinement education, job training, and remuneration, while all 'social service agents' have completed education, the refinement education and job training are conducted by all social service agents, but the conservative education is for those who leave the service without due cause or who violate the requirements of duty. The refinement education is a five-day camp under the auspices of the local Military Manpower Administration, and the job training is conducted after basic military training and the termination of the refinement education. The head of the relevant central administrative agency should conduct job training, which is necessary to cultivate the ability to perform the duties effectively, among the job training by job site, the social service agent belonging to the Korea Fire Service receives job training for one week at the central fire school after placement.[7]

A transition to another classification of service status in service

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The text of this section is the transition to another service during the military service of the Republic of Korea.

Further reading

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External links

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MMA Social Service Portal(ROK)

References

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